Discovering Anna May Wong

[gmaureen]

She still had more opportunites, more good things in her life than most people, More important, she had the character/spirit/drive to push ahead in spite of the ignorance that surrounded her. Brave and lovely woman.

[FrankDamage]

I got a bit worried by the intro, but this actually ended up being a very good and interesting clip on Anna May Wong. Thanks for posting.

[4485lolo]

Despite after all these years, Hollywood is still not giving Asian actors and actresses enough decent roles that are not stereotypical etc....and...one's own people will always try to criticise and bring down others

Anna May Wong is just great. My salute to you. You are a true Chinese!

[DistortedDimension]

That's my professor! I am taking a class with him right now.

[limeberry7]

This video is truly amazing. Thank you!

[huangweiyin]

thumbs up if you think they should make a bipic about Anna May Wong

[Nakutofuka14]

Idol :3

[ericssson]

the stupid Chinese nationalists and communist had Embarrass Themselves Continuously all on their owned.. Anna May Wong was so ahead of her times

[aliceladylike]

It's a shame that great actors like her are forgotten by ignorance and evil. She's tremendously wonderful and a powerful, strong woman who was able to go through all that horrible crap put to her by racist directors and laws and still fulfil her dreams.

[Blunishify]

..woah , my name is Anna May Bogstrand

[Neodudeman]

Wow. What an awesome woman.

[tunein]

China didn't like Anna and by the same token China today dooesn't like someone like Zhang Ziyi. She is considered a disgrace to Chinese for dating a white man. So this idiot on video shouldn't be too hard on American hollywood at the time as racist. America was really no more racist than other culture in those days. They just were big enough to be famous for it. Chinese today are increasingly having to change their attitudes as well about a lot of things they aren't historically accustomed to.

[PossibleInfost]

amen.

[sunnyoyk]

Anna May Wong - a 'role model' for all young Chinese girls all over the world to chase a dream.

[Neodudeman]

@sunnyoyk All Asians, even

[kunzy3000]

@sunnyoyk

u CHINESE are pure ANIMALS

[logansGT]

Mmmm, yummy.

If that's Wong, I don't wanna be right !

[Neodudeman]

@logansGT LOLS

[kronoscorvinus]

I haven't read his book but Professor Chan's book "Perpetually Cool: The Life of Anna May Wong" is quite intreresting, esp. as it's written from an Chinese American's viewpoint. He has a quite good Filmography.

If you can watch only a couple of Anna's movie's:"Picadilly" (silent), "The Thief of Baghdad" (silent) and "Chu Chin Chow" 1934 British, avail w/ commentary on Amazon.

An extremely underappreciated LA GIRL who, like many LA Girls made Hollywood what it is today.

[msinarath]

anna may wong is my favorite movie icon and my favorite song is these foolish things.

[decyx2]

Excellent documentary! I really enjoyed watching it. It's such a shame that she died so young.

[Georgewos]

She should have played the lead in The Good Earth and Dragon Seed. I even saw a movie where Edwatd G. Robinson and Loretta Young called The Hatchet Man played Chinese.

[pontien]

Great documentary. Thanks for posting. I never knew about her. Oh and you are so hot Su Fei

[RivaJane]

What a beautiful, courageous woman

[kcmargulies]

Most people do not know that the song "These Foolish Things Remind Me of You" was written about her...now some do...a very good piece...

[ratzkyboithegreat]

Anna May Wong is one of cinema's legend, too bad she was not that recognize cause she's Asian. She should've been nominated or even won in Oscar, but again, racism.

[tlyoung88]

She wasn't even considered to play lead in The Good Earth because Asians couldn't play romantic leads with white men. So they cast a Hungarian Luise Rainer, and she won the Oscar for it.

tony young

[digitalshark]

She had a interesting, deeper voice than you might have expected. She is a legend, deservedly so!

[Jaybrucken]

Anna May Wong was, is, and will always be one of the most beautiful and talented women in the classic cinema, especially in her silent films where her presence is so exquisite.

[omnicapgong]

SuFei, this is an amazing clip, the film clips just greatly fit into professor Hodges's description. and this clip about Anna May Wang just opens my eyes. I never know of her at all! looking how much asian women have achieved today, Anna May Wang was already battling that back in those violent days...thumbs up!

[WhiteTiger333]

Wow! Fantastic vid. I know of Anna May Wong from my grandmother. Yes, newsreels. I remember those from my childhood. Now ventures like DanweiTV are the newsreel tradition, eh? Very cool.

[qq57439621]

I never know her

[ayegwen]

Oh cool, I actually know Professor Graham Hodges in real life. Can't believe he's here!

[minjiec]

I am Danwei and Su Fei's fan now. Keep it up!

[junlueZ]

If the directors are racists, indicated by her dying in every movie, as stated in the video, why they even allowed her to have a roll in any of their movies to begin with?

[omnicapgong]

are you really not knowing about the racism back then against asian?

[valleri07]

Wow, you really missed the point, huh? How old are you? Geez, the directors were not racist as much as society in that time. Even if the directors and producers loved her, they still have to sell tickets and the country wasn't ready to see minorities as leads outside stereotypes. Clearly, times have changed and so have mainstream America. She's important because despite the hardship, she pioneered a way for future Asian actors in Hollywood.

[valleri07]

my first post was in response to the post a few posts down.

[cryvsspy]

Su Fei, those glasses add 10 years to your face. If you're serious about finding a husband, take em' off for a while!

[benwang9898]

How about men who like older women?

[cryvsspy]

what percentage of men do you think like older women? my guess would be like 2%. Better to play the odds in my opinion. Also, the glasses look just plain nerdy to me

[nickschuyler]

Thank you very much for this piece Sophie. I enjoyed it completely.

[goddessravenaus]

a woman truly ahead of her time,enigmatic and interesting,full of many contrasting layers.

[astanhope]

Great one, Danwei people!

[wandawong]

After a while, the endless chatter about racism becomes so tedious, even if it did contribute to various tragedies in Anna's life. It's so much more interesting to focus on her art. It is, after all, what she lived for.

[muum22]

"endless chatter about racism" yea now you can afford to say that but back then I am sure may would disagree! I am sure we can both appreciate her art and strength to be something despite racsim. Because afterall you cant even separate her art from racism as the film shows.

[wandawong]

No. The lens of racism is the choice of this filmmaker, and it *does* get tedious. Obviously she's admired for her achievements in the face of adversity, but her life would truly be a tragedy if people couldn't immerse themselves in her performances because they're constantly obsessing over the list of her mistreatments.

[creamofcardstv]

I like your video clip and have rated it as awesome. Please check out my latest one on some top 1930's movie star legends on trading cards. They include: Anna May Wong, Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, Clark Gable, James Cagney, Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Maurice Chevalier, Gary Cooper, Buster Keaton, Lilian Harvey, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford ....

[Cato2005]

She was so beautiful. I wish Hodges wouldn't focus on the "racism she faced in the USA." She was rich and famous. She doesn't need anyone's pity.

[Obbyto]

Excellent!!!

[jellymanli]

here goes my 5 stars the best production ever seen on youtube personally

[buckbagot]

Great, great video. She is certainly a fascinating subject. Amazing what she overcame during her life. What a strong woman, and a total buster of racist and sexist stereotypes about Chinese and Asian women. Very sad that the racism of her times precluded her marrying. Thank you for this great video.

[mofotox]

Yeah, but Bai Ling is cheap and a lot more slutty! Bai Ling is a Chinese Ho!

[jamesjiao]

agree

[bg24955]

remain me of Bai ling

[gmiao314]

I really appreciate your effort in bringing awareness of Anna May Wong. I have read the book and am fascinated with her life.

[cakeevanx]

i LOVE anna may wong! she's one of my muses!

[iwntmybeer]

You are hot. I agree with the nightlife sentiment.

[iwntmybeer]

You have a very nice ass, I would like to bite it. Lets see some nightlife.

[iwntmybeer]

You have a very nice ass. I wanna know about the clubbing in beijing.

[slasherfreek]

let's see a night life episode!!!!

[carcharodonoodle]

i second that

[piaoxuan]

danwei guys are great, really, I mean it. And Jeremy, you'll achieve your dream in China, becoming somebody in new media publishing area. Kongbare!

[amos325]

I am a chinese and I have heared her a long time ago, you can find her image on magines even now.

[Jasonleenyc]

good job! To be honest, I didn't really know this Chinese actress, so did majority of Chinese. I would do a research on her biography. Thanks for your greet work.

[samuraislider]

Anna May? Anime? C'mon, am I the first to see this? :O

[manga22]

i like to watch your videos. you can do video about shopping and nightlife in beijing.

[packard12]

What a great interview!  Thanks.

[yakupun]

Sofia, I missed your videos... I didn't watch it yet but I sure it will be great :)

[yeepett]

how comes no one heard about this Anna b4 in China? but she 'always dies n neva gets the man', haha datz funny, quite a lot info in 9mins, but itz gonna be much better to get the subtitles for Chinese speakers cuz as long as u'r talking in english, chinese ppl can still hardly know bout her story...i thought she looks like Bai-ling, that slutty actress...but probably shez much better than Bai...